Is It Possible To Overcome Ptsd Without Meds?

[SadDreamer]

Is it possible to overcome PTSD at all? Or at least, live with it normally without medication?
In april 2011, I sort of had a mental break down, I couldn't focus in my classes due to my trama resurfacing and consuming my every thought. It literally was so OVERWHELMING I failed all 3 of my classes. I would just not go to class. I don't know why. Ive always been a good student, but since PTSD, school is like the hardest thing in the world for me to focus on. As we speak, I should be writing a paper but I can't focus.
My doctor put me on an anti psychotic medication, and an anti anxiety take as needed medication this summer. She said that I needed medication to calm my anxiety, and that in turn will help me gain my focus back. I took it for about 2 months, and hated it. It made me even more depressed, although it was during a time when my friend committed suicide so who knows if it was the meds or me making myself depressed. I gained weight, I didn't want to get out of bed, and I just had no motivation to do ANYTHING. It made me foggy, like I wasn't even there at all. I felt like I had lost a part of me.
My mom said she felt like she lost her daughter, I wasn't me anymore...
I stopped taking it, and went back to my doctor. I told her I didn't like the way antidepressents made me feel. I told her I felt WORSE on it. She said, oh, you just need MORE, a higher dose? and prescribed me another type of antidepressent. I felt like she wasn't even listening to me at all and was just pushing drugs on me.
I haven't been back since. I honestly want to get better, but I feel like that physciatrist didn't try to know anything about me and just pushed Big Pharma drugs on me. I'm not some kind of lab rat experiment lady. Talk therapy helped me more than drugs did.
Id rather lose my temper, and embarrass myself by overreacting than literally feeling like I'm melting away on crazy pills. I donno. I probably don't know enough about PTSD, but I am scared shitless of doctors and I don't trust them. I fell like they will push any drug on you that makes them money. Are there other successful ways to combat PTSD without drugs? I don't know if the side effects are worth it to me.

 

[Happy Head]

Welcome to the forum SadDreamer. I could have written your post as it's almost exactly what has happened to me over the past year. I've been luck though b/c I found a new psychiatrist that does listen and I'm down to being on one med daily and another as needed. At one point, I was on 3 daily and the side effects (mental and physical) were terrible. Are you still in talk therapy? I would bring up these concerns with your therapist if you are. You can work on other ways of managing PTSD and by voicing your concerns about the meds, you and your doc can hopefully find an alternative that may work for you.

 

[Deimos]

Yes it is possible to deal with PTSD and not be on medication. It all depends on the person and the extent of their symptoms whether or not meds are needed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being on meds if it helps you. In my case I have never gone on them and anytime I bring it up to my T she tries to avoid it. I had PTSD for about 12 years before being diagnosed and I found way to function not knowing what the issue really was. I didn't want to seem abnormal to other people so I forced myself to deal with it. It worked but I was lonely pretending to be someone I wasn't. It really was only obvious in intimate relationships that something was off. Knowing what I know now, if I could go back I would have been on meds.

 

[PTSD sufferer]

Sad Dreamer,

I was really reluctant to be on meds, but I knew I needed help. I tried about four different anti psychotics, before finding one that worked for me. Maybe you can talk to your doctor about trying something different until you find one that works for you? Sometimes you do need to go to a higher dose, until you find the right dose for your personal situation. The thing is that these people are the experts and you will never know if something will work for you until you give it a try.

Also, it does take time. I found that it took about 3 months before my body adjusted to the 'fuzzy' head side effect. Taking the meds earlier in the evening also helped. For me it was better to suffer the side effects (fuzzy head, sleeping a lot, weight gain etc) with the hope that I can get better sooner.

The way I see it, my meds have helped reduce the symptoms which has in-turn allowed me to get the full benefits of therapy, which is where I think I benefit the most. Meds don't need to be permanent by the way, it depends on your own individual case. I did read a lovely story from one sufferer who came off the meds all together after a while. What an inspiration!

You are right to voice your concerns, but it is worth a try. Remember that pharma companies need to jump through a lot of hoops, clinical trials and meet stringent regulatory standards to get their drugs on the shelf and they are always developing improved meds. Second and third generation anti-psychotics have much less side effects than first generations. Don't give up before you have given it a good go, and of course, explore other options for meds, there are many.

 

[Jurriaan Plesman]

Yes it is possible to treat PTSD without recourse to medication and by nutritional means. Most people wit PTSD have hypoglycemia, which causes them to overproduce stress hormones. Going on a hypoglycemic diet is the first step in the treatment of PTSD and any other anxiety disorders. Look up Internet and search for "PTSD and Hypoglycemia"

 

[shadowchaser]

I'm going threw it without meds right now. My insurance ran out and it's been a different experience for me. No one can make you take anything you don't want. It would most likely be best to talk to a mental health professional about what your options are.

 

[maddog]

Wow, SadDreamer, I could also have written your post, though probably not with as few words and as much conciseness as you did.

I have a very checkered and turbulent history of prescription drugs for depression, anxiety and PTSD. I refused and resisted all forms of chemical intervention for a long time, but eventually, in consultation with my persistently persuasive T who pushed the very valid argument that drugs could possibly help to stabilise my mood and symptoms and increase the effectiveness of our talk therapy, I went to see a psychiatrist and began the drug roller coaster.

I have now been through three psychiatrists (still seeing the 3rd one) and more anti depressants and antipsychotics than I can remember off the top of my head. I have experienced all of the negative unhelpful phenomena that you mention - psychiatrists who won't listen to the story and who continue to increase dosages at the expense of reason, horrible numbing and fatigue and unpleasant counterproductive symptoms, increasing physical unwellness due to a combination of drugs that didn't work and an ever-growing cocktail of conflicting chemicals that were probably never given long enough to be effective or ultimately to be flushed out of my system before the next one was introduced...

I hit the wall and stopped taking any, and currently I am drug free. Interestingly, my current psychiatrist, whose specialisation is trauma, is a strong believer that drug therapy is notoriously ineffective for complex trauma, and aside from having prescribed a sleep medication to try to deal with my chronic extreme insomnia (and I confess I almost never take it, for reasons that I won't go into here), he is comfortable with my being drug free.

Is this the right decision? Did I do everything I could and should have done to make drugs work for me? Should I try again? Do I know the answers?

The answer to all of those questions is probably a categorical, and very unhelpful, I don't really know. What I do know is that for some people drugs can be extremely effective in restoring a mood stability and symptom control that can facilitate improvement through other forms of therapy. I do know that some people need the medications only for a discreet period of time during the stabilisation phase, whereas others deteriorate if the drugs are removed and remain on a maintenance dose indefinitely.

I do know that it takes a lot of time and trial and error for some people to find what works, and the time in the meantime can be very unpleasant and frustrating. I do know that it takes a good doc and a good connection between the two of you to mull through that phase, and I do know that it doesn't happen overnight.

What I do know is that every person has a different journey with a different solution, and so in that sense, all that any of us can do is to share our own experiences with you and encourage you to seek as much advice and input from those who know you well, those who you trust and those who you know have your best interests at heart, as possible.

If you are still seeing a T, it would be helpful to discuss the pros and cons with this person. Sometimes it helps to do your own research to try to familiarise yourself with some of the options and the types of conditions and symptoms they seem most effective in combatting, at least so that you can engage in more informed discussion with your health professional as to what might work.

I really do understand your trepidation and uncertainty and can relate to them very well. But you are wise to continue to question your current state and to wonder if you can do better, so I would really encourage you to ask some more questions and take your time to seek and follow some good advice.

Maddog

 

[PTSD sufferer]

Yes it is possible to treat PTSD without recourse to medication and by nutritional means. Most people wit PTSD have hypoglycemia, which causes them to overproduce stress hormones. Going on a hypoglycemic diet is the first step in the treatment of PTSD and any other anxiety disorders. Look up Internet and search for "PTSD and Hypoglycemia"

Mr Plesman,

Would appreciate you reviewing my posting to you in another thread.

[DLMURL]https://www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/ptsd-and-its-relevance-to-hypoglycemia.9884/#post-282464[/DLMURL]

The first step in the treatment of PTSD is seeking help from an expert - qualified psychiatrist and psychologist.

 

[Anna]

Is it possible to overcome PTSD at all? Or at least, live with it normally without medication?

Yes it is possible to learn to live with it. I kind of figuered life is what you make it. Why let those monsters who damaged you win? See them as the enemy. Don't let them grind you down and fight fight fight! Never surrender! Think of something you really want to do and do it. Whether it be a job, studying or a holiday. I keep my life so busy I don't have time to think. As soon as I stop to think it gets worse.

 

[mamachick]

Over 20 yrs ago I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. I belonged to a local support group. There was a doctor who claimed it was dental fillings. There was some back woods people that sold something homemade called KM syrup, since I got yeast infections, I went to a dr that did special tests for yeast. He gave me a recipe for chicken vegetable soup and sold me a bunch of vitamins. He told me to eat nothing but this soup for 6 weeks and then he could give me anti yeast treatment. After about 3 weeks with nothing but chicken vegetable soup, I was sicker and weaker than before. A friend even was buying holy water. Beware of those with the answer and something to sell Beware Beware

That being said, I try to be open minded. I had been having ankle pain and my right ankle would give out on steps for a couple of months. It was worse in am and at night. It was worse going down steps. While at massagae therapy, I mentioned it to therapist. She said that area is connected to pelvis, she pressed on pelvic bone. It felt better-but was also mid afternoon. I have not had one problem with that ankle now in 4 months. Strange but true..

 

[Julliete]

I'm not on any medication, and I believe it is possible to treat PTSD without it. There are times when I have felt it would be easier to be on medication. Yet one of the few things that I feel I have that is mine (that the abusers cannot take from me) is an ability to self-heal and overcome, and for me personally, healing without medication is important. Sometimes I feel it is challenging to change neural pathways and emotional triggers that cause racing and physical symtpoms that medication might control. But I have improved a lot over the few years I've been aware of my diagnosis and I feel that is is possible...

I support those who use medication... (in my case it's also that being forced on medication and forced to take "pills" to commit suicide leads me to an aversion since forced medication/taking pills an aspect of the traumatic events in my life so while it could be helpful pills are also a trigger for me).

I would love to hear about ways that other people are healing without medication (even if they are also using medication) (other than therapy). I feel that PTSD is complex, and the physical and emotional and mental are all related...

 

[mamachick]

Juliete-how did you overcome and heal without it. I would really be interested to know alternatives. Thanks